Everyone likes new clothes. Right?

Everyone likes new clothes. Right?  Putting on a new outfit can change the way you see yourself.  It can change the way you feel and can have an emotional effect. It also has a practical, functional side, for instance it protects the human body from the environment; weather, insects, germs. For that I am grateful.

Look in any clothing store or watch the runways and you will see that humans have put a great deal of time and creativity into how they cloth themselves.  From elaborate gowns to protective undergarments, much thought has gone into not only protecting ourselves but making sure we look good in the process….well, most of the time.

Clothing can be an indication of who we are.  Certain clothing and how it’s worn can symbolize our social status, marital status or religion.  What we wear speaks of the time and culture we live, telling a story about us.

Whether we like it or not, what we wear matters and it is foolish to think “this does not apply to me.”  You may not care but it doesn't change it’s importance. 

From the beginning, starting with Adam and Eve, clothing spoke of protection and status.  In the case of Adam and Eve the clothing they wore specifically spoke of their relationship with God or the unfortunate lack of it.

We wear more than the clothing on our back.  When Adam and Eve chose disobedience, they ended up putting on more than animal skins. They also put on shame and regret.  They put on a sin nature that made them painfully aware of how far they had fallen from God.  One of their children put on jealousy, anger and hatred resulting in the murder of his brother.   The trend continued down through the ages, and even with our best efforts to be good and do good mankind has still ended up wearing what the word of God calls in Isaiah 64:5-7 “filthy rags”.

Jesus told a parable one day in an effort to explain the kingdom of heaven that spoke of this very thing. 

Vs 8-13 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment.  And he said to him, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness…

Good and bad were invited to the wedding feast.   The condition of the person was not held against him concerning the invitation.   ALL where invited but not all came in their wedding clothes.  There was one who didn’t think it was important.  Maybe he mistakingly thought, “I’m invited surely no one will care what I am wearing.” Or maybe he thought,  “This will have to be good enough. This is who I am and what I have!”  The problem was that although the invitation was open to all, the King still found it very important that wedding garments were worn.   

We can be at the party, thinking that everything is great because we got an invitation but an invitation isn’t enough. Feeling loved and accepted by the King because he invited us, isn't enough.   Being in the room with all the other invited people isn't enough.  Seeing and maybe even tasting the feast isn't enough if we end up getting thrown out because of refusing to take off the old clothes to put on the wedding garment.

What are old clothes or filthy rags?  They are works of the flesh, the Apostle Paul explains in Galatians 5:19-21,

We now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Works of the flesh don’t always look so awful, they can also look like good works. Galatians 2:16 tells us that “A man is not justified or made right by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.”  Jesus tells us in Matt 5:8-9, "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”

Pristine or filthy and stained, holding onto the remnant of “old clothing” for the sake of identity, tradition, individuality or any other excuse with will seem futile and regretfully a huge mistake if in the end eternity is lost because of it. 

The amazing thing about all this is that the Lord has not only sent out the invitation to all but also He has also provided the wedding garment through Jesus Christ. 

Isa 61:10 tells us, “ I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.”

The wedding garment simply must be put on and worn.  Put on the “robe of righteousness” just like a the bride puts on her dress and jewels.  

Daily we must choose to dress ourselves in all that God has provided.  As tempting as it may be to stay in those old, worn out, comfortable rags, I encourage you to lay them aside and cloth yourself in the new, and quite costly, clothes the Lord has provided for you.  Keep your wedding garment, tend to it, wear it boldly and stand ready in it. 

I encourage you to take Revelation 16:15 to heart, “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame”. 

And, if by chance you see a brother at the party who is not wearing the wedding garment. Please, tell him, encourage him, plead with him to lay down that which will ultimately get him removed.